Fruit cutting machine



Feb. 11,- 1941. E. J. N. BERG 2,231,405

FRUIT CUTTING MACHINE Filed June 13, 1959 2 Sheets Sheet 1 FIE JINVENTOR Z2 fiharJA/fierg a; 5g I ATTORNEYS Feb. 11, 11. E. J. N. BERGFRUIT CUTTING MACHINE Filed June 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORf/nar /V 5 erg ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 11, 1941 FRUIT CUTTING lWACHINEEinar J. N. Berg, San Francisco, Calif.

Application June 13, 1939, Serial N 0. 278,834

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a fruit-cutting machine and has for itsobjects an improved machine for rapidly and efiiciently cutting fruit,such as whole pears and the like, into slices or slabs of substantiallyuniform thickness, for subsequent drying of the slices. Another objectis the provision of simple means for quickly adjusting the machine tocut fruit into thin or thick slices, or into slices of any desireddegree of thickness between thin and thick slices. A still furtherobject is a simple, strong machine for the above purposes, which machineis self-feeding to the fruit cutters, and in which the fruit will remainin position for cutting against accidental dislodgment until each fruitunit is reduced to slices. Other objects and advantages will appear inthe annexed description and drawings.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through one of the fruit cuttingblades, with the legs of the machine broken ofi to reduce the View tothe sheet.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the machine, with one corner of the feed chutebroken off and with the discharge chute broken away in its length.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

In detail the machine in the drawings comprises four vertical legs I,two of whichat two of the opposite sides of the machine, are connectedat their upper ends by horizontal frame members 2, 2' and frame members3 connect the legs at the remaining two opposite sides, at pointsadjacent the tops of said legs.

lhe cutting element, comprises a circular disk 4 secured to one end of ahorizontal shaft 5, which shaft is supported for rotation in bearings 6,6',

the bearing 6 being secured to the underside of member 2 and bearing 6being secured to the underside of a cross member I that extends betweenframe members 3 at a point about intermediate members 2, 2, the disk 4being positioned between members I and 2 so that the axially outwardlyfacing side of disk 4, with respect to the shaft 5, faces the member 2.The end of shaft 5, opposite the end mounting disk 4, projects outwardlybeyond the member 2, and carries a pulley 56 8, or the like, forrotation of the shaft and disk.

Supported on member 2 is an inclined feed chute 9 having a horizontalfruit retaining element ill at and below its lower end, said element Illconsists of a horizontally elongated beam par- 55 allel with the planeof the disk 4, and adjustably secured at its ends to frame members 3 bymeans of bolts 12 (Figs. 2, 3), which bolts extend vertically throughslots l3 in members 3, the slots extending longitudinally of saidmembers. Thus the cross beam Ill may be moved toward or away 5 from thedisk 4 by loosening the nuts on bolts l2, and upon tightening the bolts,the beam ill is secured in its adjusted position.

The lower end of chute I8 is disposed to one side of and below the axisof said disk, and is 10 of a lesser horizontal width than the radius ofthe disk, and the portion of beams l0 directly below said lower end, isconcavely shaped, as at M (Fig. 1) on its side facing toward, andgenerally upwardly, with respect to the side of disk 15 4 adjacentthereto. Thus, a lip I5 is formed on the beam, which lip is nearest thedisk 4 and the side of the beam above the lip is curved, and terminatesadjacent the upper side of the beam Ill remote from the lip and from thedisk. From 20 the ends of the concave face I4, the sides 16 of the chute9 extend divergently to the outer end of the chute.

It will be seen from the foregoing that fruit dumped onto chute 9 willroll down the chute and 25 against the side of disk 4 facing the chute,and will be held in a sort of pocket, the lateral sides of which aredisk 4 and the concave side of beam ID, with the lip i5 forming thebottom of the pocket. 30

On the side of disk 4 facing the chute, are a pair of straight,elongated cutting blades IT, one of which cutting blades is disposed onone side of the central axis of the disk while the other is at theopposite side of said axis. Each of said blades 35 is disposed generallytangentially of a relatively small circle concentric with the centralaxis of the disk, and the length of each blade is preferably not lessthan the horizontal width of the lower end of the chute 9. Thedisposition of 40 blades l! is such that the blades, during rotation ofthe disk, will be parallel with beam H3, when said blades pass the beam.

Blades I! in cross-section, slantingly project outwardly of the side ofdisk 4 adjacent said 45 chute and are removably secured to said side ofthe disk by screws [8 which pass through an angular extension I!) ofsaid blades, formed integrally with the blades, respectively, and intothe disk 4. The extension I9 is along one longitudinal edge of eachblade and lies fiat against the outer side of the disk, while theopposite outer free edge of each blade is sharpened as at 20, (Fig. 4).The blades are preferably disposed in a plane extending between 30 and45 with respect to the plane of the disk, and the cutting edge 20 ofeach blade is therefore equally spaced from the side of disk 4 adjacentthereto and the distance of said cutting edge and the disk, determinesthe thickness of the slices to be cut.

Behind each blade I! the disk 4 is slotted at 2|, each slot being thelength of the blade I! and of substantially the same size as each bladewith the opposite longitudinal edges of the slots being slanted similarto the slant of the blade adjacent thereto. Each blade I! substantiallycovers each slot, .and as the cutting edges 20 of the blades face in thesame direction with respect to the direction of rotation of blade 4(Fig. 3), it will be seen that the fruit bodies, such as pears,supported against the concave face l4 of beam I I] will be successivelysliced by the blades as they are revolved about the axis of shaft 5,with the slices passing through the slots 2|.

The slices of fruit passing through slots 2| will drop onto a dischargechute 22, which chute 22 has sides 23, and is inclined downwardlyrelative to disk 4, below which the bottom of the chute passes. Thelower end of chute 22 discharges cut slices onto a horizontal platformchute 22 may discharge directly onto the ground or floor, or platform24, from which the cut fruit may be shoveled into boxes or into trays ordirectly onto a drying field.

In operation, the disk 4 is rotated at say about 200 revolutions perminute, and boxes of pears or the like are dumped into chute 9. Thepears will roll down onto the concave side l4 of the fruit retainingmember It and will automatically be held, by gravity, against theadjacent side of disk 4, and as the blades ll on said disk pass saidmember H), the pears will be reduced to slices, the slices passingthrough the slots 2| in said disk and onto chute 22 for slidingdownwardly in the latter for removal from the lower end thereof. A cover26 extends over the chute 22 and also a housing 21 encloses the upperhalf of disk 4, above the beam I0.-

The provision of the supporting lip l 5 and concave side M of the fruitretaining member I!) is particularly important, since it prevents thetendency of the fruit to bounce away from the disk 4 and blades, thusinsuring a positive and uniform cutting of the fruit and as the bladesI! finish slicing the pears supported on said lip, the remaining pearson chute 9 are automatically fed to the disk for cutting.

Thus the member Ill, as described, functions as a stationary fruitretaining member supporting the fruit against accidental displacementrelative to disk 4 during cutting thereof and said member supports thefruit by gravity for automatic feeding thereof to said disk and bladeswhile being held against displacement relative thereto.

The volume of pears handled by a machine of any given dimensions may beincreased or decreased by varying the dimensions, since longer cuttingblades will obviously cut more than shorter blades.

This machine is used generally for cutting fruit and the like for stockfeed, the fruit being dried after cutting, and then the moisturerestored by adding water thereto, before being fed to stock. Obviously,in order to be practical for this purpose, it is essential that themachine be economical to make and use, and that it be capable of cuttinga large volume of fruit per hour. In a machine of the type described,and with about eight or ten inch cutting blades, the machine will cutthe fruit into slices faster than an operator can shovel the fruit awayfrom the discharge chute, and the fruit is reduced to slices ofsubstantially uniform thickness so as to dry evenly and thoroughly.

I claim:

1. A fruit slicing machine comprising a supporting frame, a verticallydisposed circular disk centrally mounted on said frame for rotationabout its horizontal axis, means for rotating said knife in onedirection, an upwardly inclined fruit feeding chute rigidly secured onsaid frame, said chute being open at its lower end and said open lowerend being positioned at one side of said central axis and adjacent, butspaced from one side of said disk, and extending upwardly from saidlower end in a plane perpendicularly to the plane of the disk wherebyfruit fed onto said chute will be discharged from said lower open endagainst said one side of the disk, a fruit cutting blade on said oneside of said disk having a cutting edge spaced from said one side andpositioned to slice fruit discharged from said chute against said oneside, a fruit supporting member disposed below said lower open end ofthe chute and extending toward said one side of said disk for receivingfruit from said chute and for supporting said fruit during slicing bythe said cutting blade when the said disk is rotated in said onedirection, means mounting said member for movement toward and away fromsaid disk for adjusting its position, means securing said member rigidlyrelative to said chute when in adjusted position, and means removablysecuring said blade to said disk for permitting substitution of bladesof different sizes.

2. In a construction as defined in claim 1, the said member being formedwith a concave side facing in a direction generally upwardly and towardsaid disk and positioned for receiving thereon fruit from said loweropen end of said chute and for holding such fruit against the tendencyof said fruit to be dislodged in direction away from said disk and bladeduring cutting by said blade. EINAR J. N. BERG.

